Stocks should
have been asked to shoot. He could not excuse himself with the plea of
an unintentional omission, for he had heard reports of the gentleman's
wonderful awkwardness with a gun, and he had not found it in his heart
to spoil the sport of five keen and competent hands.
He dared not look at Alice, for his aunt's words had set his pulses
beating hotly. For the last week he had wrestled with himself, telling
his heart that this lady was beyond his ken for ever and a day, for he
belonged by nature to the clan of despondent lovers. Before, she had
had all the icy reserve, he all the fervours. The hint of some spark of
fire behind the snows of her demeanour filled him with a delirious joy.
Every movement of her body pleased him, every word which she spoke, the
blitheness of her air and the ready kindness. The pale, pretty Afflint
girls, with their wit and their confidence, seemed old and womanly
compared with Alice. Let simplicity be his goddess
henceforth--simplicity and youth.
The Pool of Ness is a great, black cauldron of clear water, with berries
above and berries below, and high crags red with heather. There you may
find shade in summer, and great blaeberries and ripening rowans in the
wane of August. These last were the snare for Alice, who was ever an
adventurer. For the moment she was the schoolgirl again, and all sordid
elderly cares were tossed to the wind.
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